Box Score (PDF) | Harris Interview | Highlights

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell (0-3) women's basketball team dropped its home opener on Thursday night, falling to the Fairfield Stags (2-1), 65-41, at the Costello Athletic Center.
 
"Credit to Fairfield, they did a great job without their best player," commented Head Coach Jenerrie Harris. "They did a great job running what they wanted to run on both sides of the ball. We didn't stick to our game plan and as a result we lost the game, so I think we have to go back and look at the drawing board and fix some things that haven't been working so far."

Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) led the hosts with 10 points, and scored seven of the River Hawks' first nine points as they trailed 10-9 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. The Stags ended the period on a mini 4-0 spurt to take a 14-9 advantage into the second.
 
Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J) scored her eight points in the second period to lead UMass Lowell, but Fairfield opened the quarter with a 7-1 run to build a 21-12 buffer. Megan Hendrick (Alexandria, Va.) drilled her only shot of the opening 20 minutes with under 30 seconds left in the first half to bring the River Hawks back within 33-23.
 
UMass Lowell scored four of the half's first seven points to get within nine, before Casey Foley nailed a corner three-pointer to give the visitors a 12-point margin at 39-27 with 8:08 left on the clock. Kelsey Carey connected on a jumper to break a combined scoring drought of 2:52 to open up the Stags' largest lead of the game at 41-27.
 
Hayner netted her first basket since the first quarter to break the River Hawks' drought, and Kiana Batagelj (Hamilton, Ontario) banked in a three with under three minutes to go in the quarter to bring the River Hawks with 45-32.
 
Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) and Katherine Smith (Canterbury, Ind.) each recorded two steals for UMass Lowell.
 
Fairfield's offense was led by the trio of Kelsey Carey (18 points), Samantha Cooper (16 Points) and Kristine Miller (10 points).
 
The River Hawks are back in action on Sunday, November 20 as they host Longwood University at the Tsongas Center, tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.